What results from the Masters mean for the rivalry between Liv Golf and the PGA

Amna Nawaz:

A history-making win for 28-year-old Spanish golfer Jon Rahm at the Masters tournament yesterday.

In securing his second Major career championship, Rahm became the first European ever to win both the Masters and the U.S. Open. Here he is on the moment he knew he'd won.

Jon Rahm, Professional Golfer:

When I hit that third shot on the green, and I could tell you it was close by the crowd's reaction, just the wave of emotion of so many things just overtook me. Never thought I was going to cry about winning a golf tournament, but I got very close on that 18th hole.

Amna Nawaz:

But the tournament was not without controversy, with several players from the Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour competing and performing well.

For more on this, I'm joined by Christine Brennan. She's a sportswriter and columnist for USA Today.

Christine, welcome back. Always good to see you.

Before we get into the politics and the controversy of all this, let's give Rahm his moment just. Tell us about him and why his win is so significant.

Christine Brennan, USA Today:

Amna, he is one of the great young players on the PGA Tour and throughout the world of golf and a very popular player, the latest in a long line of great Spanish male players, Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia, and now John Rahm. He respects that tradition.

He actually won yesterday, on Sunday, on Seve Ballesteros's 66th birthday. He noted that. I mean, who notes that? What 20-something is talking about the birthday of a man who's now passed away? But that's the history and the tradition that matters to Jon Rahm. He's also just one of one of the great players and is now number one in the world.

Amna Nawaz:

Well, as you well know, among the top six finishers at the Masters, there were three golfers who play on that Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Patrick Reed.

You wrote that the Masters must be saying to Rahm, thank you for saving us from ourselves.

What did you mean by that?

Christine Brennan:

The LIV Golf tour has been very, very controversial. And it is backed by Mohammed bin Salman and his private investment fund.

And, of course, he is the man who has, by all accounts, the CIA and others, is responsible for the murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and, of course, the Saudis and their connection to 9/11, and the Saudi human rights record, which is abysmal, especially regarding women and LGBTQ rights.

So that's what has happened here. Now, I know people have said to me many times — I have been — I have been critical, of course, of the golfers who have left for the LIV tour, Amna. They have said, well, you pump gas, you put gas in your car. There are other sports events in Saudi Arabia.

The difference for me is very simple. These men, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, quite a few others, Dustin Johnson, they're the big names, they had jobs. They had jobs on the PGA Tour, and they left their jobs, and, by the way, very, very good-paying jobs, left their jobs to go into business with bin Salman and with the Saudis and all of the terrible things that, of course, are alleged or are known about them.

And this is a classic case, in my humble opinion, of sports-washing, i.e., they are using — the Saudis are using these golfers — and the golfers know they're being used — to sports-wash, to whitewash that record and try to make the Saudis look good.

Even Phil Mickelson said that in comments. He knows they killed Khashoggi. They — he knows about the terrible record with LGBTQ people, and yet Mickelson signed up because the money, Amna, is so massive. They're making hundreds of millions of dollars. And I think it's obviously something very worthy of conversation, because it is such a remarkable difference from, say, a tennis player playing in Saudi Arabia for one week, or an Olympics being in Beijing.

Very problematic, but not going into business with those people, as these golfers have.

Amna Nawaz:

Well, Christine, Phil Mickelson was asked about that, asked about representing LIV Golf at the Masters. Here's part of what he had to say in response.

Phil Mickelson, Professional Golfer:

I thought it was exciting that this tournament rose above it all to have the best players in the world here and lost all the pettiness. I thought that was great.

There's always going to be and should always be a place for historical events like this, but it's OK to have a little bit of different and variety in the game of golf.

Amna Nawaz:

Christine, Mickelson is 52. He surged in the final round to do much better than many people thought he would.

Do you think this earned him some redemption with the fans who were angry at him and others for leaving for the LIV Golf tour?

Christine Brennan:

That's possible, Amna.

When he talks about pettiness, though, he has been the one who has been driving the pettiness. I mean, he has been one of the chief organizers and the one who has been so critical of the PGA Tour. So, I like Phil. I'm doing covering him over the years, obviously one of the greatest players ever. But he has certainly been a participant and all of the strife and the anger and the rancor between the LIV golfers and their former colleagues at the PGA Tour and their legal battles as well.

So, yes, he had a great day Sunday. And that's for sure. And it was remarkable for a 52-year-old, almost 53 to be shooting a 65 and just having the time of his life out there. So, yes, that was a great moment for Phil on the golf course. I think his record remains in terms of his decision-making. And that's something obviously for the sports history books.

Amna Nawaz:

And something, of course, we will continue to cover, as I know you will as well.

Christine Brennan, sports columnist for USA Today.

Christine, thank you.

Christine Brennan:

Amna, thank you very much.